UNOFFICIAL COPY AS OF 01/01/20191998 REG. SESS.98 RS HB 396/GA
AN ACT relating to the evaluation of certified employees.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Page 1 of 5
HB039610.100-1553GA
UNOFFICIAL COPY AS OF 01/01/20191998 REG. SESS.98 RS HB 396/GA
Section 1. KRS 156.101 is amended to read as follows:
(1)The purpose of this section is to encourage and require the maintenance and development of effective instructional leadership in the public schools of the Commonwealth and to recognize that principals with the assistance of assistant principals, supervisors of instruction, guidance counselors, and directors of special education have the primary responsibility for instructional leadership in the schools to which they are assigned.
(2)For the purpose of this section, instructional leader shall be defined as an employee of the public schools of the Commonwealth holding a valid certificate as a principal, assistant principal, supervisor of instruction, guidance counselor, or director of special education.
(3)In order to carry out the purpose of this section, the Kentucky Board of Education shall establish a statewide program to improve and maintain the quality and effectiveness of instructional leadership in the public schools of the Commonwealth.
(4)The instructional leader improvement program shall contain the following provisions:
(a)Each instructional leader employed by the public schools of the Commonwealth shall participate in a continuing intensive training program designed especially for instructional leaders;
(b)Every two (2) years each instructional leader shall complete an intensive training program approved by the Kentucky Board of Education to include no less than forty-two (42) participant hours of instruction;
(c)The Kentucky Board of Education shall prescribe specific criteria for the training program and may contract for the training with qualified agencies or institutions; and
(d)Completion of the required participant hours shall be reported to the State Department of Education and to the local school district. If an instructional leader fails to complete the required hours of training, he shall be placed on probation for one (1) year and, if the training is not completed during the probationary period, his certificate shall be revoked.
(5)As a means of improving the educational productivity of Kentucky's public schools, of providing a method by which the citizens of the Commonwealth can be assured of measures of accountability of the performance of certified school employees, and of providing encouragement and incentives for certified school employees to improve their performance, the Kentucky Board of Education shall establish a statewide program for improving the performance of all certified school personnel, including instructional leaders.
(6)The certified employee evaluation programs shall contain the following provisions:
(a)Each certified school employee, including the superintendent, shall be evaluated by a system developed by the local school district and approved by the Kentucky Board of Education;
(b)The local school district shall review the evaluation plan to insure compliance with this section. Upon adoption, revisions to the evaluation plan shall be submitted for approval by the Kentucky Board of Education; and
(c)The Kentucky Board of Education shall notify local school districts of their responsibilities under this subsection, develop written guidelines for local school districts to follow in developing and implementing an evaluation system and shall require the following:
1.All evaluations of certified employees below the level of the district superintendent shall be in writing on evaluation forms and under evaluation procedures developed by a committee composed of an equal number of teachers and administrators;
2.The immediate supervisor of the certified school employee shall be designated as the primary evaluator;
3.All monitoring or observation of performance of a certified school employee shall be conducted openly and with full knowledge of the employee;
4.Evaluation shall include a conference between the evaluator and the person evaluated;
5.Evaluators shall be trained, tested, and certified in accordance with regulations adopted by the Kentucky Board of Education in the proper techniques for effectively evaluating certified school employees and in the use of the school district evaluation system;
6.The evaluation system shall include a plan whereby the person evaluated is given assistance for becoming more proficient as a teacher or administrator; and
7.The training requirement for evaluators contained in subsection (6)(c)5. of this section shall not apply to district board of education members.
(7)A local district may request from the Kentucky Board of Education a waiver from the guidelines and administrative regulations promulgated by the state board as required in subsection (6) of this section in order to implement an alternative certified evaluation plan for employees on continuing contracts. The board shall grant a waiver if the alternative plan provides for a three (3) phase certified employee evaluation plan that includes:
(a)Phase One (1): Evaluation for Professional Growth.
1.Evaluation is based on a wide array of relevant sources and directed toward general and specific recommendations for improvement; and
2.Evaluation does not include documentation that might adversely affect employment status.
(b)Phase Two (2): Transition.
1.Evaluation is for the purpose of intensive scrutiny of job performance;
2.Evaluation includes documentation that may lead to adverse employment decisions;
3.Assistance and support for improvement shall be provided by the school district; and
4.Placement of an individual in the transition phase is not subject to appeal, but the employee must be notified of the decision in writing.
(c)Phase Three (3): Evaluation for Deficiency.
1.Notwithstanding KRS 161.760, written notice of potential termination, reduction of direct classroom responsibility, or other adverse actions and conditions for job retention are given the employee;
2.A clear time frame for proposed actions is provided the employee; and
3.The summative evaluation is subject to appeal.
An alternative plan for the evaluation of certified personnel shall be proposed to the state board if the local district evaluation committee is in support of the plan. Training necessary to implement the alternative plan shall be provided to the principals, supervisory personnel, and the employees to be evaluated. The local district shall provide support to implement the plan. The Kentucky Department of Education shall provide technical assistance to districts wishing to develop alternative evaluation plans.
(8)The State Department of Education shall visit school districts within the Commonwealth as needed to review and insure implementation of the evaluation system by the local school district. The department shall establish an appeals procedure for certified school employees who feel that the local school district failed to properly implement the approved evaluation system. The appeals procedure shall not involve requests from individual certified school employees for review of the judgmental conclusions of their personal evaluations.
(9)[(8)]The State Department of Education shall select and train evaluators from outside each local school district to conduct evaluations as needed of a sample of certified school employees within each district in order to validate the effectiveness and accuracy of the local school districts' evaluators.
(10)[(9)]Local school districts with an enrollment of sixty-five thousand (65,000) or more students shall be exempt from the requirements of this section except for subsection (10) of this section provided they meet the standards established by the Kentucky Board of Education for local school district evaluation systems.
(11)[(10)]The local board of education shall establish an evaluation appeals panel for certified personnel which shall consist of two (2) members elected by the certified employees of the district and one (1) member appointed by the board of education who is a certified employee of the board. Certified employees who think they were not fairly evaluated may submit an appeal to the panel for a timely review of their evaluation. In districts that have adopted an alternative evaluation plan under subsection (7) of this section, the appeal shall only apply to the summative evaluation of Phase Three (3).
(12)[(11)]This section shall be known as the "Effective Instructional Leadership Act."
Page 1 of 5
HB039610.100-1553GA